What is the heaviest planet in the solar system? | Reference.com What is the heaviest planet in the solar system? A: Quick Answer Jupiter is the heaviest planet in the solar system, with a mass of 1.90 x 10^27 kg. The gas giant's mass is equivalent to about 318 Earths. Jupiter is so heavy that it's twice as heavy as all the planets in the solar system combined. Full Answer Jupiter is a gas giant that is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. Despite its great mass compared to other planets, Jupiter still has only a fraction of the mass of a thousand suns. Still, the gas planet's gravitational pull, due to its mass, has helped shaped the solar system. The largest planet also has the most moons, with about 67 natural satellites. 'Super Jupiter' Discovery Dwarfs Solar System's Largest Planet (Photo) November 19, 2012 12:01am ET MORE The "super-Jupiter" Kappa Andromedae b, shown here in an artist's rendering, circles its star at nearly twice the distance that Neptune orbits the sun.

With a mass about 13 times Jupiter's, the object glows with a reddish color. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger In a rare direct photo of a world beyond Earth, astronomers have spotted a planet 13 times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in our own solar system. The planet orbits a star called Kappa Andromedae that is 2.5 times the mass of the sun and is located 170 light-years away from Earth. As a gas giant larger than Jupiter , it's classified as a "super-Jupiter." Astronomers say the object's immense size places it right on the edge of the classifications for giant planets and a type of failed star known as a brown dwarf. Its official name is Kappa Andromedae b, or Kappa And b for short, and it likely has a reddish glow, researchers said.

"According to conventional models of planetary formation, Kappa And b falls just shy of being able to generate energy by fusion, at which point it would be considered a brown dwarf rather than a planet," Michael McElwain, a member of the discovery team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a Nov. 19 statement. "But this isn't definitive, and other considerations could nudge the object across the line into brown dwarf territory." [ Super-Jupiter Discovery in Photos (Gallery) ] What is the Biggest Planet in the Solar System? - Universe Today Universe Today What is the Biggest Planet in the Solar System? Article Updated: 23 Dec , 2015 by Matt Williams Ever since the invention of the telescope four hundred years ago, astronomers have been fascinated by the gas giant of Jupiter. Between it’s constant, swirling clouds, its many, many moons, and its Giant Red Spot, there are many things about this planet that are both delightful and fascinating. But perhaps the most impressive feature about Jupiter is its sheer size. In terms of mass, volume, and surface area, Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System by a wide margin.

But just what makes Jupiter so massive, and what else do we know about it? Size and Mass: Jupiter’s mass, volume, surface area and mean circumference are 1.8981 x 1027 kg, 1.43128 x 1015 km3, 6.1419 x 1010 km2, and 4.39264 x 105 km respectively. To put that in perspective, Jupiter diameter is roughly 11 times that of Earth, and 2.5 the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. But, being a gas giant, Jupiter has a relatively low density – 1.326 g/cm3 – which is less than one quarter of Earth’s. This means that while Jupiter’s volume is equivalent to about 1,321 Earths, it is only 318 times as massive. The low density is one way scientists are able to determine that it is made mostly of gases, though the debate still rages on what exists at its core (see below). Composition: Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter.

It is the largest of the gas giants, and like them, is divided between a gaseous outer atmosphere and an interior that is made up of denser materials. It’s upper atmosphere is composed of about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of gas molecules, and approx. 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, with the remaining one percent consisting of other elements. This cut-away illustrates a model of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of liquid metallic hydrogen. Credit: Kelvinsong/Wikimedia Commons The atmosphere contains trace amounts of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds as well as trace amounts of benzene and other hydrocarbons. There are also traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide, neon, oxygen, phosphine, and sulfur. Crystals of frozen ammonia have also been observed in the outermost layer of the atmosphere. The interior contains denser materials, such that the distribution is roughly 71% hydrogen, 24% helium and 5% other elements by mass.

It is believed that Jupiter’s core is a dense mix of elements – a surrounding layer of liquid metallic hydrogen with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of molecular hydrogen. The core has also been described as rocky, but this remains unknown as well. In 1997, the existence of the core was suggested by gravitational measurements, indicating a mass of from 12 to 45 times the Earth’s mass, or roughly 4%–14% of the total mass of Jupiter. The presence of a core is also supported by models of planetary formation that indicate how a rocky or icy core would have been necessary at some point in the planet’s history in order to collect its bulk of hydrogen and helium from the protosolar nebula. However, it is possible that this core has since shrunk due to convection currents of hot, liquid, metallic hydrogen mixing with the molten core. This core may even be absent now, but a detailed analysis is needed before this can be confirmed. The Juno mission , which launched in August 2011, is expected to provide some insight into these questions, and thereby make progress on the problem of the core. The temperature and pressure inside Jupiter increase steadily toward the core.

At the “surface”, the pressure and temperature are believed to be 10 bars and 340 K (67 °C, 152 °F). At the “phase transition” region, where hydrogen becomes metallic, it is believed the temperature is 10,000 K (9,700 °C; 17,500 °F) and the pressure is 200 GPa. The temperature at the core boundary is estimated to be 36,000 K (35,700 °C; 64,300 °F) and the interior pressure at roughly 3,000–4,500 GPa. Moons: The Jovian system currently includes 67 known moons. The four largest are known as the Galilean Moons , which are named after their discoverer, Galileo Galilei .

They include: Io , the most volcanically active body in our Solar System; Europa , which is suspected of having a massive subsurface ocean; Ganymede , the largest moon in our Solar System; and Callisto , which is also thought to have a subsurface ocean and features some of the oldest surface material in the Solar System. Then there’s the Inner Group (or Amalthea group), which is made up of four small moons that have diameters of less than 200 km, orbit at radii less than 200,000 km, and have orbital inclinations of less than half a degree. This groups includes the moons of Metis , Adrastea , Amalthea , and Thebe . Along with a number of as-yet-unseen inner moonlets, these moons replenish and maintain Jupiter’s faint ring system. Jupiter also has an array of Irregular Satellites, which are substantially smaller and have more distant and eccentric orbits than the others. These moons are broken down into families that have similarities in orbit and composition, and are believed to be largely the result of collisions from large objects that were captured by Jupiter’s gravity. Illustration of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites.

Credit: NASA Interesting Facts: Much like Earth, Jupiter experiences auroras near its northern and southern poles. But on Jupiter, the auroral activity is much more intense and rarely ever stops. The intense radiation, Jupiter’s magnetic field, and the abundance of material from Io’s volcanoes that react with Jupiter’s ionosphere creates a light show that is truly spectacular. Jupiter also has a violent atmosphere. Winds in the clouds can reach speeds of up to 620 kph (385 mph). Storms form within hours and can become thousands of km in diameter overnight. One storm, the Great Red Spot , has been raging since at least the late 1600s. The storm has been shrinking and expanding throughout its history; but in 2012, it was suggested that the Giant Red Spot might eventually disappear . The discovery of exoplanets has revealed that planets can get even bigger than Jupiter. In fact, the number of “ Super Jupiters ” observed by the Kepler space probe (as well as ground-based telescopes) in the past few years has been staggering. In fact, as of 2015, more than 300 such planets have been identified.

Notable examples include PSR B1620-26 b (Methuselah), which was the first super-Jupiter to be observed (in 2003). At 12.7 billion years of age, it is also the third oldest known planet in the universe. There’s also HD 80606 b (Niobe), which has the most eccentric orbit of any known planet, and 2M1207b (Lerna), which orbits the brown dwarf Fomalhaut b (Illion). Scientist theorize that a gas gain could get 15 times the size of Jupiter before it began deuterium fusion, making it a brown dwarf star. Good thing too, since the last thing the Solar System needs if for Jupiter to go nova! Jupiter was appropriately named by the ancient Romans, who chose to name after the king of the Gods (Jupiter, or Jove). The more we have come to know and understand about this most-massive of Solar planets, the more deserving of this name it appears. If you’re wondering, here’s how big planets can get with a lot of mass, and here’s what is the biggest star in the Universe .

And here’s the 2nd largest planet in the Solar System. Here’s another article about the which is the largest planet in the Solar System , and here’s what’s the smallest planet in the Solar System . We have recorded a whole series of podcasts about the Solar System at Astronomy Cast . Check them out here. Source: Planet Jupiter: Facts About Its Size, Moons and Red Spot Planet Jupiter: Facts About Its Size, Moons and Red Spot By Charles Q. Choi, Space.com Contributor | November 14, 2014 12:59am ET MORE This photo of Jupiter was taken on Sept. 20, 2010 when Jupiter made its closest approach to Earth since 1963. (Uranus [insert] was visible through telescopes near Jupiter.) Credit: Jimmy Eubanks Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Fittingly, it was named after the king of the gods in Roman mythology. In a similar manner, the ancient Greeks named the planet after Zeus, the king of the Greek pantheon.

Jupiter helped revolutionize the way we saw the universe and ourselves in 1610, when Galileo discovered Jupiter's four large moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, now known as the Galilean moons. This was the first time celestial bodies were seen circling an object other than Earth, major support of the Copernican view that Earth was not the center of the universe. Physical characteristics Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system , more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined, and had it been about 80 times more massive, it would have actually become a star instead of a planet. Its atmosphere resembles that of the sun, made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, and with four large moons and many smaller moons in orbit around it, Jupiter by itself forms a kind of miniature solar system. All told, the immense volume of Jupiter could hold more than 1,300 Earths. The colorful bands of Jupiter are arranged in dark belts and light zones created by strong east-west winds in the planet's upper atmosphere traveling more than 400 mph (640 kph).

The white clouds in the zones are made of crystals of frozen ammonia, while darker clouds of other chemicals are found in the belts. At the deepest visible levels are blue clouds. Far from being static, the stripes of clouds change over time . Inside the atmosphere, diamond rain may fill the skies. The most extraordinary feature on Jupiter is undoubtedly the Great Red Spot , a giant hurricane-like storm seen for more than 300 years. At its widest, the Great Red Spot is three times the diameter of the Earth, and its edge spins counterclockwise around its center at a speed of about 225 mph (360 kph). The color of the storm, which usually varies from brick red to slightly brown, may come from small amounts of sulfur and phosphorus in the ammonia crystals in Jupiter's clouds. The spot grows and shrinks over time, and every now and again, seems to fade entirely. Jupiter's gargantuan magnetic field is the strongest of all the planets in the solar system at nearly 20,000 times the strength of Earth's.

It traps electrically charged particles in an intense belt of electrons and other electrically charged particles that regularly blasts the planet's moons and rings with a level of radiation more than 1,000 times the lethal level for a human, damaging even heavily shielded spacecraft such as NASA's Galileo probe. The magnetosphere of Jupiter, which is composed of these fields and particles, swells out some 600,000 to 2 million miles (1 million to 3 million km) toward the sun and tapers to a tail extending more than 600 million miles (1 billion km) behind Jupiter. Jupiter spins faster than any other planet, taking a little under 10 hours to complete a turn on its axis, compared with 24 hours for Earth. This rapid spin makes Jupiter bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles, making the planet about 7 percent wider at the equator than at the poles. Jupiter broadcasts radio waves strong enough to detect on Earth. These come in two forms — strong bursts that occur when Io, the closest of Jupiter's large moons, passes through certain regions of Jupiter's magnetic field, and continuous radiation from Jupiter's surface and high-energy particles in its radiation belts.

These radio waves could help scientists to probe the oceans on its moons. Composition & structure Atmospheric composition (by volume): 89.8 percent molecular hydrogen, 10.2 percent helium, minor amounts of methane, ammonia, hydrogen deuteride, ethane, water, ammonia ice aerosols, water ice aerosols, ammonia hydrosulfide aerosols Magnetic field: Nearly 20,000 times stronger than Earth's Chemical composition: Jupiter has a dense core of uncertain composition , surrounded by a helium-rich layer of fluid metallic hydrogen, wrapped up in an atmosphere primarily made of molecular hydrogen. Internal structure: A core less than 10 times Earth's mass surrounded by a layer of fluid metallic hydrogen extending out to 80 to 90 percent of the diameter of the planet, enclosed in an atmosphere mostly made of gaseous and liquid hydrogen. Orbit & rotation Average distance from the sun : 483,682,810 miles (778,412,020 km).

By comparison: 5.203 times that of Earth Perihelion (closest approach to the sun): 460,276,100 miles (740,742,600 km). By comparison: 5.036 times that of Earth Aphelion (farthest distance from the sun): 507,089,500 miles (816,081,400 km). By comparison: 5.366 times that of Earth (Source: NASA .) Jupiter's moons Jupiter has at least 63 moons , which are often named after the Roman god's many lovers. The four largest moons of Jupiter, now called Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, were discovered by Galileo Galilei himself, and are appropriately known today as the Galilean satellites. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, larger even than Mercury and Pluto. It is also the only moon known to have its own magnetic field. The moon has at least one thick ocean between layers of ice, although it may contain several layers of both materials.

Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The sulfur its volcanoes spew out gives Io a blotted yellow-orange appearance that is often compared to a pepperoni pizza. As Io orbits Jupiter, the planet's immense gravity causes 'tides' in Io's solid surface that rise 300 feet (100 meters) high, generating enough heat for volcanic activity. The frozen crust of Europa is made up mostly of water ice, and it may hide a liquid ocean holding twice as much water as Earth does. Icy oceans may also exist beneath the crusts of Callisto and Ganymede. Some of this liquid spouts from the surface in newly spotted sporadic plumes at the southern pole. Its potential to host life caused NASA to request funding for a mission to explore Europa . Callisto has the lowest reflectivity, or albedo, of the four Galilean moons. This suggests that its surface may be composed of dark, colorless rock. Jupiter's rings Jupiter's three rings came as a surprise when NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft discovered them around the planet's equator in 1979. Each are much fainter than Saturn's rings. The main ring is flattened.

It is about 20 miles (30 km) thick and more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) wide. The inner cloud-like ring, called the halo, is roughly 12,000 miles (20,000 km) thick. The halo extends halfway from the main ring down to the planet's cloud tops and expands by interaction with Jupiter's magnetic field. Both the main ring and halo are composed of small, dark particles. The third ring, known as the gossamer ring because of its transparency, is actually three rings of microscopic debris from three of Jupiter's moons, Amalthea, Thebe and Adrastea. It is probably made up of dust particles less than 10 microns in diameter, about the same size of the particles found in cigarette smoke, and extends to an outer edge of about 80,000 miles (129,000 km) from the center of the planet and inward to about 18,600 miles (30,000 km). Ripples in the rings of both Jupiter and Saturn may be signs of impacts from comets and asteroids.

Research & exploration Seven missions have flown by Jupiter — Pioneer 10 , Pioneer 11 , Voyager 1 , Voyager 2 , Ulysses, Cassini and New Horizons — while another, NASA's Galileo, actually orbited the planet. Pioneer 10 revealed how dangerous Jupiter's radiation belt is, while Pioneer 11 provided data on the Great Red Spot and close-up pictures of its polar region. Voyager 1 and 2 helped astronomers create the first detailed maps of the Galilean satellites, discovered Jupiter's rings, revealed sulfur volcanoes on Io, and saw lightning in Jupiter's clouds. Ulysses discovered the solar wind has a much greater impact on Jupiter's magnetosphere than before suggested. New Horizons took close-up pictures of Jupiter and its largest moons. In 1995, Galileo sent a probe plunging towards Jupiter, making the first direct measurements of its atmosphere and measuring the amount of water and other chemicals there. When Galileo ran low on fuel, the craft was intentionally crashed into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid any risk of it slamming into and contaminating Europa, which might have an ocean below its surface capable of supporting life.

Another spacecraft, named Juno , is heading toward Jupiter and will reach the planet in 2016. It will study Jupiter from a polar orbit to figure out how it and the rest of the solar system formed, which could shed light on how alien planetary systems might have developed. Jupiter's gravitational impact on the solar system As the most massive body in the solar system after the sun, the pull of Jupiter's gravity has helped shape the fate of our system. It may have violently hurled Neptune and Uranus outward , according to calculations published in the journal Nature. Jupiter, along with Saturn, may have slung a barrage of debris toward the inner planets early in the system's history, according to an article in Science magazine. It may even nowadays help keep asteroids from bombarding Earth, and recent events certainly have shown that it can absorb potentially deadly impacts . Currently, Jupiter's gravitational field influences numerous asteroids that have clustered into the regions preceding and following Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. These are known as the Trojan asteroids, after three large asteroids there, Agamemnon, Achilles and Hector, names drawn from the Iliad, Homer's epic about the Trojan War.

Possibility of life on Jupiter If one were to dive into Jupiter's atmosphere , one would discover it to grow warmer with depth, reaching room temperature, or 70 degrees F (21 degrees C), at an altitude where the atmospheric pressure is about 10 times as great as it is on Earth. Scientists have conjectured that if Jupiter has any form of life, it might dwell at this level, and would have to be airborne. However, researchers have found no evidence for life on Jupiter. Additional reporting by Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor Explore the solar system Smallest and Largest Planets in the Solar System By: Maria Temming | July 15, 2014 There are a couple of different ways to measure how “big” something is. The first is an object’s mass (how much matter it contains) and the second is its volume (how much space it takes up). The smallest and largest planets in our solar system are Mercury and Jupiter , respectively. The smallest planet in regards to both mass and volume is Mercury —this tiny world is nearly 20 times less massive than Earth, and its diameter is about times 2 ½ smaller.

In fact, Mercury is closer in size to our Moon than to Earth. The largest planet in our solar system by far is Jupiter, which beats out all the other planets in both mass and volume. Jupiter’s mass is more than 300 times that of Earth, and its diameter is about 11 times larger than Earth’s diameter. (Jupiter's Great Red Spot, even at its current diminished size , spans 15,900, just over a full Earth diameter.) Jupiter is 2 ½ times more massive than the rest of the planets in the solar system combined. A size comparison of the planets in our solar system. In order of increasing distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. NASA Lunar and Planetary Institute Learn more about our solar system's most ostentatious planet — the ringed giant Saturn and its fascinating family of moons — in our FREE ebook, Saturn's Bounty . Enter your email address to download the ebook, and you'll also receive our weekly e-newsletter with the latest astronomy news.

* Solar System, Solar System Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic More » Our Cosmic Neighborhood From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities—Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky. Since the invention of the telescope, three more planets have been discovered in our solar system: Uranus (1781), Neptune (1846), and, now downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto (1930). In addition, there are thousands of small bodies such as asteroids and comets. Most of the asteroids orbit in a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while the home of comets lies far beyond the orbit of Pluto, in the Oort Cloud.

The four planets closest to the sun—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are called the terrestrial planets because they have solid rocky surfaces. The four large planets beyond the orbit of Mars—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—are called gas giants. Tiny, distant, Pluto has a solid but icier surface than the terrestrial planets. Nearly every planet—and some of the moons—has an atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is primarily nitrogen and oxygen. Venus has a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide, with traces of poisonous gases such as sulfur dioxide. Mars's carbon dioxide atmosphere is extremely thin. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are primarily hydrogen and helium. When Pluto is near the sun, it has a thin atmosphere, but when Pluto travels to the outer regions of its orbit, the atmosphere freezes and collapses to the planet's surface. In that way, Pluto acts like a comet. Moons, Rings, and Magnetospheres There are 140 known natural satellites, also called moons, in orbit around the various planets in our solar system, ranging from bodies larger than our own moon to small pieces of debris.

From 1610 to 1977, Saturn was thought to be the only planet with rings. We now know that Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have ring systems, although Saturn's is by far the largest. Particles in these ring systems range in size from dust to boulders to house-size, and may be rocky and/or icy. Most of the planets also have magnetic fields, which extend into space and form a magnetosphere around each planet. These magnetospheres rotate with the planet, sweeping charged particles with them. The sun has a magnetic field, the heliosphere, which envelops our entire solar system. Ancient astronomers believed that the Earth was the center of the universe, and that the sun and all the other stars revolved around the Earth. Copernicus proved that Earth and the other planets in our solar system orbit our sun. Little by little, we are charting the universe, and an obvious question arises: Are there other planets where life might exist? Only recently have astronomers had the tools to indirectly detect large planets around other stars in nearby solar systems.

—Text courtesy NASA/JPL Jupiter: The Heaviest Planet of Solar System Information of the world Jupiter: The Heaviest Planet of Solar System Home » Sciences » Geology » Jupiter: The Heaviest Planet of Solar System Jupiter is the heaviest planet of the solar system and the weight of Jupiteris 85 earth pounds. Earth weighs 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6E+24) kilograms. It is also the largest planet with biggest diameter of 143,000 km. The mass of Jupiter is 1.8981 x 1027 kg, volume is 1.43128 x 1015 km3, surface area 6.1419 x 1010 km2, and a mean circumference of 4.39264 x 105 km. These statistics make it the largest planet of our solar system; as large as twice the amount of all the planets in the solar system combined.

However its density is 1.326 g/cm3, which is less than one fourth of the Earth’s density. Not only is it large by proportions of size and volume, it is also large by its title as the king of gods in the Roman mythology. Had Jupiter been any larger than it already is, it would have been given the title of a star. Jupiter can be said to have a solar system of its own; this comes from the fact that it has 4 large moon and many other small ones in orbit around it, and an atmosphere made up mostly of hydrogen and helium like the suns. Jupiter has revolutionized the way people used to see the universe in the past; when Galileo discovered the four moons of Jupiter, namely Lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, it was realized that celestial bodies in space did not orbit the Earth and this gave birth to the Copernican view that Earth was not the center of the universe. The planet’s extraordinary feature is without a doubt its Great Red Spot, which is a giant hurricane like storm that is been seen hitting the planet since 300 years now.

Every now and then this Great Red Spot disappears, but then makes an appearance again; it varies in color from brown to brick red. From the point where it is the widest, the Great Red Spot is three times the diameter of the Earth. Out of all the planets, Jupiter has a magnetic field that is strongest in the solar system, being 20,000 times the strength of the Earth. All in all, Jupiter’s intense volume can hold more than 1300 Earths and more, making it the heaviest and the largest planet in all of the solar system. Related Posts: The Smallest And Largest Planets in the Solar System The Smallest And Largest Planets in the Solar System {{article.article.images.featured.caption}} Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Full Bio The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Loading ... This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe Jupiter's Great Red Spot (Credit: NASA) The smallest and largest planet that form our solar system range incredibly in temperature, composition, geology, and of course size.

Here we will delve into what makes these two planets unique and what insight we have gained from these distant planets. The smallest planet in the solar system, Mercury and the largest planet, Jupiter provide many clues to the formation of our solar system, the geochemical variability therein, and the evolution of earth. Pluto, a dwarf planet, will also be touched on and where it calls within the list of planets. One in 200 stars has habitable Earth-like planets surrounding it - in the galaxy, half a billion stars have Earth-like planets going around them - that's huge, half a billion. So when we look at the night sky, it makes sense that someone is looking back at us. - Michio Kaku The Largest Planet In The Solar System - Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet that we find in our Solar system. It's so large, in fact, that over 1,000 Earths or every plan would fit inside of Jupiter and still have room. Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods and is a giant gas planet; much different from the planet we live on.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system (Credit: NASA) This giant gas planet is primarily hydrogen and helium gas, similar to our sun in composition. There are continual storms throughout Jupiter, the largest being the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot is an ongoing storm approximately 3.5 times the diameter of the Earth and has latest for at least 185 years. You will also notice that Jupiter has four rings that are composed of small dust particles that rotate around the planet. Unlike Earth's 1 moon, Jupiter has 62 identified moons, with 4 primary and largest moons. In the near future we will hopefully know a lot more about Jupiter, as the Juno spacecraft is anticipated to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The goal of the mission is to help scientists understand how Jupiter formed, its origin and evolution. Equatorial Circumference What are the Different Masses of the Planets? - Universe Today Universe Today What are the Different Masses of the Planets? Article Updated: 22 Jul , 2016 by Matt Williams It is a well known fact that the planets of the Solar System vary considerably in terms of size.

For instance, the planets of the inner Solar System are smaller and denser than the gas/ice giants of the outer Solar System . And in some cases, planets can actually be smaller than the largest moons. But a planet’s size is not necessarily proportional to its mass. In the end, how massive a planet is has more to do with its composition and density. So while a planet like Mercury may be smaller in size than Jupiter’s moon Ganymede or Saturn’s moon Titan , it is more than twice as massive than they are. And while Jupiter is 318 times as massive as Earth, its composition and density mean that it is only 11.21 times Earth’s size. Let’s go over the planet’s one by one and see just how massive they are, shall we? Mercury: Mercury is the Solar System’s smallest planet, with an average diameter of 4879 km (3031.67 mi). It is also one of its densest at 5.427 g/cm3, which is second only to Earth. As a terrestrial planet , it is composed of silicate rock and minerals and is differentiated between an iron core and a silicate mantle and crust.

But unlike its peers (Venus, Earth and Mars), it has an abnormally large metallic core relative to its crust and mantle. All told, Mercury’s mass is approximately 0.330 x 1024 kg, which works out to 330,000,000 trillion metric tons (or the equivalent of 0.055 Earths). Combined with its density and size, Mercury has a surface gravity of 3.7 m/s² (or 0.38 g). Internal structure of Mercury: 1. Crust: 100–300 km thick 2. Mantle: 600 km thick 3. Core: 1,800 km radius. Credit: MASA/JPL Venus: Venus , otherwise known as “Earth’s Sister Planet”, is so-named because of its similarities in composition, size, and mass to our own. Like Earth, Mercury and Mars, it is a terrestrial planet, and hence quite dense. In fact, with a density of 5.243 g/cm³, it is the third densest planet in the Solar System (behind Earth and Mercury).

Its average radius is roughly 6,050 km (3759.3 mi), which is the equivalent of 0.95 Earths. And when it comes to mass, the planet weighs in at a hefty 4.87 x 1024 kg, or 4,870,000,000 trillion metric tons. Not surprisingly, this is the equivalent of 0.815 Earths, making it the second most massive terrestrial planet in the Solar System. Combined with its density and size, this means that Venus also has comparable gravity to Earth – roughly 8.87 m/s², or 0.9 g. Earth: Like the other planets of the inner Solar System, Earth is also a terrestrial planet, composed of metals and silicate rocks differentiated between an iron core and a silicate mantle and crust. Of the terrestrial planets, it is the largest and densest, with an average radius of 6,371.0 km (3,958.8 mi) and a mean of density of 5.514 g/cm3.

The Earth’s layers, showing the Inner and Outer Core, the Mantle, and Crust. Credit: discovermagazine.com And at 5.97 x 1024 kg (which works out to 5,970,000,000,000 trillion metric tons) Earth is the most massive of all the terrestrial planets. Combined with its size and density, Earth experiences the surface gravity that we are all familiar with – 9.8 m/s², or 1 g. Mars: Mars is the third largest terrestrial planet, and the second smallest planet in our Solar System. Like the others, it is composed of metals and silicate rocks that are differentiated between a iron core and a silicate mantle and crust. But while it is roughly half the size of Earth (with a mean diameter of 6792 km, or 4220.35 mi), it is only one-tenth as massive. In short, Mars has a mass of 0.642 x1024 kg, which works out to 642,000,000 trillion metric tons, or roughly 0.11 the mass of Earth.

Combined with its size and density – 3.9335 g/cm³ (which is roughly 0.71 times that of Earth’s) – Mars has a surface gravity of 3.711 m/s² (or 0.376 g). Jupiter: Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. With a mean diameter of 142,984 km, it is big enough to fit all the other planets (except Saturn) inside itself, and big enough to fit Earth 11.8 times over. But with a mass of 1898 x 1024 kg (or 1,898,000,000,000 trillion metric tons), Jupiter is more massive than all the other planets in the Solar System combined – 2.5 times more massive, to be exact. Jupiter’s structure and composition. (Image Credit: Kelvinsong CC by S.A. 3.0) However, as a gas giant, it has a lower overall density than the terrestrial planets. It’s mean density is 1.326 g/cm, but this increases considerably the further one ventures towards the core.

And though Jupiter does not have a true surface, if one were to position themselves within its atmosphere where the pressure is the same as Earth’s at sea level (1 bar), they would experience a gravitational pull of 24.79 m/s2 (2.528 g). Saturn: Saturn is the second largest of the gas giants; with a mean diameter of 120,536 km, it is just slightly smaller than Jupiter. However, it is significantly less massive than its Jovian cousin, with a mass of 569 x 1024 kg (or 569,000,000,000 trillion metric tons). Still, this makes Saturn the second most-massive planet in the Solar System, with 95 times the mass of Earth. Much like Jupiter, Saturn has a low mean density due to its composition. In fact, with an average density of 0.687 g/cm³, Saturn is the only planet in the Solar System that is less dense than water (1 g/cm³). But of course, like all gas giants, its density increases considerably the further one ventures towards the core.

Combined with its size and mass, Saturn has a “surface” gravity that is just slightly higher than Earth’s – 10.44 m/s², or 1.065 g. Diagram of Saturn’s interior. Credit: Kelvinsong/Wikipedia Commons Uranus: With a mean diameter of 51,118 km, Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System. But with a mass of 86.8 x 1024 kg (86,800,000,000 trillion metric tons) it is the fourth most massive – which is 14.5 times the mass of Earth. This is due to its mean density of 1.271 g/cm3, which is about three quarters of what Neptune’s is. Between its size, mass, and density, Uranus’ gravity works out to 8.69 m/s2, which is 0.886 g. Neptune: Neptune is significantly larger than Earth; at 49,528 km, it is about four times Earth’s size.

And with a mass of 102 x 1024 kg (or 102,000,000,000 trillion metric tons) it is also more massive – about 17 times more to be exact. This makes Neptune the third most massive planet in the Solar System; while its density is the greatest of any gas giant (1.638 g/cm3). Combined, this works out to a “surface” gravity of 11.15 m/s2 (1.14 g). As you can see, the planets of the Solar System range considerably in terms of mass. But when you factor in their variations in density, you can see how a planets mass is not always proportionate to its size. In short, while some planets may be a few times larger than others, they are can have many, many times more mass. For more information, check out Nine Planets overview of the Solar System, NASA’s Solar System Exploration , and use this site to find out what you would weigh on other planets . Astronomy Cast has episodes on all of the planets. Here’s Episode 49: Mercury to start! Share this:

Question: Which is the heaviest planet in our solar system?
Answer: JUPITER